Introduction: Infantile subglottic hemangioma is a rare and serious condition characterized by stridor, respiratory distress, and a barking cough. This condition poses a significant risk as it can lead to life-threatening airway obstruction.
\nCase Report: We present a patient who was diagnosed in the ED with moderate laryngomalacia via laryngoscopy by otolaryngology and discharged; he returned to the ED the next day with worsening symptoms of recurrent stridor, difficulty feeding, and worsening respiratory distress. A second laryngoscopic exam performed on the return ED visit revealed a subglottic mass which was later identified as a left-sided subglottic hemangioma via bronchoscopy and MRI. The patient was treated with propranolol and discharged from the inpatient unit with dermatology and otolaryngology follow-up.
\nConclusion: Infantile subglottic hemangioma is a rare but serious cause of respiratory distress in infants, posing a risk of airway obstruction. It should be considered in the ED, particularly for patients under two years of age, who present with recurrent stridor and respiratory distress and do not respond to standard treatments for croup or laryngomalacia.
","language":"eng","license":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0","short_name":"CC BY 4.0","text":"Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.\r\n\r\nNo additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0"},"keywords":[{"word":"Infantile subglottic hemangioma"},{"word":"subglottic stenosis"},{"word":"stridor"},{"word":"respiratory distress"},{"word":"Dyspnea"},{"word":"croup"},{"word":"laryngoscope"},{"word":"propranolol"}],"section":"Case Reports","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2px6p068","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Summer","middle_name":"","last_name":"Ghaith","name_suffix":"","institution":"Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Arizona","department":""},{"first_name":"Deborah","middle_name":"","last_name":"Hsu","name_suffix":"","institution":"Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Palo Alto, California","department":""},{"first_name":"William","middle_name":"Wallace","last_name":"Dixon","name_suffix":"","institution":"Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Palo Alto, California","department":""}],"date_submitted":"2024-10-27T19:18:28.974000Z","date_accepted":"2025-03-11T18:21:39.153000Z","date_published":"2025-06-19T19:40:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/uciem_cpcem/article/38443/galley/38481/download/"}]}